


If Lost, Please Return to Raphael

by Kateera



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Nerdiness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-12
Updated: 2016-07-12
Packaged: 2018-07-23 13:30:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7465233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kateera/pseuds/Kateera
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Simon has a habit of getting lost or needing help and Raphael has a habit of always being around to help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	If Lost, Please Return to Raphael

**Author's Note:**

> This wouldn't rest in my head until I wrote it.   
> Please let me know if any Spanish translations are AWFUL and I will fix. (THANK YOU to @ilnn for their help!!)   
> Enjoy and as always, comments are beacons of light on this ocean of self doubt.

The first time it wasn’t like he was actually lost so it might have been all his fault. He got distracted, and lost track of time if anything, so when Raphael came storming into the all night bookstore looking ready to stake him, Simon honestly looked a little confused.

“Are you alright Ra-”

“Have you any idea what time it is?” Raphael hissed through clenched teeth.

“Um.” Simon checked his watch and gasped in surprise, “5:00am?”

The sun would be rising already, though it wouldn’t hit full sunrise for a few more minutes and Raphael had spent the last half hour following Simon’s trail around New York. Crossing his arms and glaring, the clan leader watched Simon scramble to grab all his books, apologies flowing out of his mouth like a river of words. As the young vampire moved to put his stack away, Raphael stopped him with a hand on his arm.

“We don’t have time for this. The sun is not patient and neither am I.”

“Running?” Simon asked with a wince, remembering the last time he’d tried the full vampire speed thing and ran into the side of a building when he didn’t slow down in time.

“Running.”

Following Raphael's lead, Simon walked with his stormy faced leader to the entrance and then bolted, a blur of wind whipping around the other patrons of the store as they hightailed it to the hotel. Closing the large door behind him just as the sun peeked out over the horizon, Simon closed his eyes in relief and took a couple of unnecessary breaths. 

“That was close! I can’t believe I lost track of time like that but I guess that’s the point of an all night book store. Did you know that they still have original edition Superman comics in that place? They keep them behind these glass cases so you can’t actually read them. I mean, I guess you could if you asked and they gave you a pair of gloves and-hey, why were you out that late?” Simon’s sudden shift of topic gave Raphael mental whiplash.

“ _ Tu eres demasiado estúpido para vivir.  _ Next time I’ll just let you fry then huh?”

With a final glare at the absent minded fledgling, Raphael walked away, shaking his head and hoping a good day’s rest would keep the phantom headache at bay. He knew his anger grew out of the fear of losing Simon, the boy honestly had no sense of self preservation, but his growing need to keep Simon safe above himself was new and he needed time to process.

Simon watched him leave, a look of confusion twisting his face until he worked through what the older vampire had meant.  **_He came looking for me._ **

An image of Raphael burning in the sun because he was out trying to protect  **HIM** hit Simon like a punch to his gut. Being sure that vampires couldn’t get food poisoning (and fully aware that he hadn’t had anything but a large carafe of coffee at the bookstore) Simon decided not to focus too much on the wrenching ache and walked to the kitchen for a snack before bed. 

  
  


The second time, Simon feels a bit responsible for getting lost but he also blames the fact that while he knows New York City like the back of his hand, the tunnels underneath the city don’t factor in this knowledge. The tunnels were tricky and even though he could see in the dark, the underground scenery was all the same. Gray walls don’t offer many landmarks by which to guide him and Simon felt sure he’d taken a wrong turn about three turns ago. 

“Stupid tunnels,” Simon said to the silent concrete around him, “You are making me so late and I hate you. How do supervillains remember where their underground lairs are anyway? Everything looks the same! He’s probably going to think I ran away or something.”

Disappointing Raphael felt more dire than being lost but Simon didn’t focus on what that could mean. Sliding down the nearest wall and sitting on the floor with a huff, Simon closed his eyes and mentally retraced his steps. The fact that the meeting place for the newly formed alliance between the vampires and the werewolves had to be so far from the hotel only added to his frustration. Screaming seemed like a really good idea.

_ “ _ _ Bebé, perdido otra vez _ ?”

His screaming turning into a high pitched yelp and Simon glared at his clan leader with all of the fury he usually reserved for people who said Greedo shot first.

“Why do you have to do that?”

“I enjoy it.” Raphael’s accompanying smirk didn’t make Simon feel any better about the entire situation. “And you are late to the meeting so you deserve it.”

Standing up, Simon brushed off his pants and walked to where Raphael leaned against an outcropping with that ridiculous smirk still on his face.

“Yes, okay? Yes, I got lost because it’s a freaking maze down here and my sense of direction is apparently hindered by claustrophobic tendencies. Happy?”

“I’m not unhappy,” Raphael quipped before sighing and pointing behind him, “come on, the meeting is half over and I left Lily to keep things calm so we don’t have much time.”

To Simon’s credit, he didn’t say much as Raphael led him through the unfamiliar twists and turns of the dark tunnels until they reached the appropriate ladder. Raphael climbed up first with Simon right behind him. 

**_It’s not really my fault that everyone thought I knew my way around the tunnels. They all left before me so of course I got lost. New vampire, hello. Now I have Raphael annoyed and usually that’s fine cause he’s cute as hell when he’s annoyed but...wait. What?_ **

“Simon,  _ mueve el culo _ !”

He might not know Spanish but the irritation in Raphael’s voice was enough motivate him. Deciding that sexual evaluation could come later, Simon took the last few rungs in a single jump and landed next to Raphael in the darkening street. Up ahead stood the abandoned theater, it’s weathered exterior hiding one of Magnus Bane’s many lairs and this one so happened to be warded against violence, making it the perfect choice for a meeting place between warring factions. Giving Raphael a thumbs up, which made the older vampire roll his eyes so hard Simon thought they might fall out, the two walked into the theater. Simon’s mind whirled with the new information currently rocking his world and while it wasn’t quite on the level of “I’m a vampire now” it still felt as if the world were suddenly spinning in the opposite direction.

**_Fuck, I’m not attracted to him, am I?_ **

  
  


The third time Simon got lost it was not his fault at all and he would contend that anyone else in his shoes wouldn’t have been able to fight off ALL THE WEREWOLVES as once so it’s not as if he were lost so much as kidnapped and he really wanted that to stop happening to him, thank you very much. 

“Where’s Luke?” He asked the two strange werewolves standing over him with stakes in hand and he would have made a Buffy comment if he wasn’t at least a little scared they’d stake him first and apologize later.

**_I need to write a manual on being kidnapped by the supernatural._ **

The short stocky man with a long jagged scar on his cheek smirked at him. “Luke is otherwise occupied but I’m sure our leader will make short work of the vampire loving mutt. A pack has fallen into true depravity when it unites with the dead.” 

Simon gulped back his words at the werewolf’s fanatical rant. This was so not good. There might have been hope if these were Luke’s wolves but a new pack in Brooklyn spelled trouble that Simon wasn’t certain he could get out of. 

“Well then, why haven’t you killed me yet?”

“Shut up blood sucker.” The taller wolf moved to smack him but a noise outside the door distracted the two kidnappers.

Scarface looked out the window but apparently couldn’t see anything because he turned to the other werewolf and motioned him towards the door.

“Barry, go see what that is while I teach this dead body a lesson on respecting its betters..”

The noise grew louder as the door opened and Simon at last recognized the noise as motorcycles, a whole lot of motorcycles. The sound of fighting reached Simon while Barry and Scarface grew pale at the view in front of them.

Simon laughed. “Oh you guys are so screwed. Raphael is going to kick your asses so hard your children are going to feel it. You stepped into the wrong neighborhood dumbasses.”

“Who’s Raphael, your boyfriend?”

“I’m his leader.”

Simon looked at the door to see Raphael standing there full of fury, Lily and Stan flanking him with twin glares. He’d never been so happy to see the three of them with murderous looks in their eyes.

**_Holy cow, I should not be turned on by this but he is so fucking hot. Why am I just now realizing how into him I am?_ **

Teeth bared and nails dripping blood from the battle outside, Raphael looked like an avenging angel to Simon as he tore through the two snarling werewolves while Lily and Stan guarded the door. When Scarface hit the floor, Raphael looked over to see Simon staring at him with something  like admiration.

“Simon, are you alright?”

A couple of blinks cleared the adoring look from Simon’s face. “Other than being tied up, I’m fine. The one with the scar wanted to torture me but they seemed to be waiting for Luke to fall. They were pretty dumb but they made up for it in numbers which is why I couldn’t fight them off. I have been training and you know it. I would have gone all Klingon on them if it’d been a fair fight. I guess they saw Luke and I hanging out so they thought they could use me for leverage but they didn’t count on the alliance. Man, we lucked out with Luke being so awesome because-”

“ _ Dios _ , why didn’t they gag you?” Raphael snarled but his hands were gentle as he untied Simon’s legs and arms and checked for wounds.

“I told you they were stupid,” Simon said with a grin and Raphael grinned back, making the younger vampire suck in an unnecessary breath as his whole body reacted to the power of that smile. “Wow.”

“What?”

Reaching out for the gorgeous man, (Simon’s mind reeling from the events of the night and the sight of Raphael fighting for him and maybe he’d been drawn to the older vampire this whole time and it took him being rescued for the attraction to finally break his resolve), but his hands seemed to be moving of their own accord as they pulled Raphael into a gentle kiss. The older vampire froze as Simon’s lips touched his, the action so startling that he couldn’t move. 

Pulling away, Simon stood up and backed towards the wall. “I’m sorry, I’m sure that was totally unwanted and uncalled for and I wasn’t thinking and it’s not like I ever thought I would be attracted to you but it happened and I won’t bring it up again-”

Raphael stood in front of him, moving with that damned vampire swiftness that Simon still hadn’t mastered fully and Simon stopped his rant as the older vampire stared with a furrowed brow and pursed lips. 

“I swear the only time you use your vampire speed is with your mind and your mouth.”

Simon tried to talk but his voice felt trapped in his chest and all he could do was close his eyes and nod In agreement to whatever Raphael said, hoping he wouldn’t be kicked out of the clan for harboring a crush on the stern leader. A hand pressed into his cheek and Simon’s eyes popped open to see Raphael glaring at him and Simon didn’t quite know how to react.

“ _ Eres un idiota emotivo. _ ”

“What?”

Raphael’s lips on his own caused Simon’s mind to short circuit. Soft lips, nipping teeth, searching tongue, everything flooded through Simon’s mind in a second before he crushed Raphael to him and returned the kiss with every ounce of frustration he’d kept bottled inside. The kiss wasn’t elegant or gentle but Simon could have kept kissing all night if it weren’t for the soft cough coming from the open door. Raphael pulled back and pushed Simon behind him to face the newcomer. 

Luke, looking a little battered and bruised but otherwise unharmed, stood with an amused look on his face and Simon was sure his own would have been burning red if he’d still been alive. The alpha didn’t comment on the embrace but stood waiting for them to pull themselves together and approach him.

Raphael turned around, straightening Simon’s clothes while he pulled his emotions back behind the curtain.

“You distract me.” Raphael muttered as he tried to flatten Simon’s hair and the younger vampire uselessly pushed him away.

“I’m good,” Simon said, “go be awesome.”

“ _ Distrayendo y tonto _ .” Raphael muttered as he walked to Luke and stood with his arms crossed. Fury flooded his mind at the thought that the wolf and Simon’s relationship could have cost Simon his life.

“It was an invading werewolf clan,” Luke said with a glance towards Simon, “not my fault vampire.”

“Maybe I’m going to blame you anyway.”

“Maybe I don’t think Simon will let you.”

Raphael hissed in annoyance but glanced behind him to see Simon looking worried and biting his lip and the fury melted off him, replaced by irritation that Simon could even have this effect on him. His careful control on his emotions flew away faster than a fire message when it came to Simon. 

Turning back to Luke, Raphael uncrossed his arms and tucked his hands into his pockets. “I hate to agree with you wolf and I’m sure it’s going to give me indigestion but I see your point. In the future, I expect a full escort anytime Simon wants to come see you.”

“No argument from me,” Luke answered, a bite to his voice that revealed how close to the surface the wolf was, “I want him as safe as you do. Also, being the only father figure in that boys life, if you hurt him, no alliance on this earth is going to save you.”

“You guys know I can hear you right?” Simon asked with no small amount of annoyance. “I’d prefer not to be discussed like a Disney princess.”

Raphael and Luke didn’t respond, but stared at each other for a tense moment before Raphael inclined his head slightly and Luke followed with a nod of his own. 

“I’m going to leave now and ignore both of you,” Simon growled as he walked towards the door,” I could have gone without this weird pissing contest and I feel like I was the one getting peed on which is just gross.”

Luke stretched out his arm and pulled Simon into a hug as the vampire tired to get by him. Simon pushed at the werewolf but gave into the hug as he heard Luke’s heart start to calm down, his wolf fury retreating. 

“Didn’t mean to worry you Luke,” Simon said with a pat to the older man’s back. 

“You and Clary always worry me,” Luke said sighing, “it’s kind of in the job description.”

“You’re doing great thought. I mean, we’re still here more or less.”

A little laugh escaped Luke’s throat but the older man pushed Simon away and into Raphael’s arms which wrapped protectively around his waist.

“Let’s go home Simon _ ,”  _ Raphael whispered across Simon’s neck and he was lost, his annoyance vanishing at the public display of affection.

Luke waved them away. “Go, I’ll get my boys to clean up.”

“Bye Luke,” Simon said, hoping the wolf ignored the husky tone of his voice.

Returning to the hotel, both of the vampires didn’t know exactly what to do once alone and out of danger but Raphael had never been accused of being a coward in his life or unlife so with a hand firmly held in Simon’s he led the younger vampire up to his room and poured them a glass of blood each. The silence filled every inch of the gray room as they sat on the couch (apparently the only comfortable place to sit in the whole hotel) and Simon couldn’t stop the first thought in his head exploding from his mouth.

“So, are you my boyfriend now?”

“ _ Dios _ , why must we label everything?” Raphael asked the ceiling.

“Because, it’s-I mean, it’s going to be easier on me to tell my friends if this is a definite thing. I don’t know the rules remember? Maybe you kiss all your vampires like that.”

Giving Simon a look that just screamed  _ idiota,  _ Raphael took a sip from his glass and answered, “I wasn’t aware I wanted to kiss anyone until you came along. And if I find you kissing someone else I will be very upset. I suppose if you must, we are boyfriends.”

“Cool.”

A smile drifted across Raphael’s face and Simon decided he might be down with doing stupid things if it meant seeing that expression again. For now, it was fine to sit next to each other, thighs and hands touching, and drink dinner in peace.

 

“Wait, you’re dating Raphael?”

“I wouldn’t call it dating exactly,” Simon said, giving his best friend a sheepish shrug. “More like, we kiss in private, he still kicks my ass in training, and the other vampires are now being super polite. We haven’t even gone on a date.”

Clary shook her head in disbelief. “I wasn’t aware you even liked guys!”

“Yeah, me either.”

“Does this mean you're gay then?”

“Um.” Simon didn’t quite know WHAT he was and he laughed a bit before repeating Raphael’s line. “Do we really have to label things? I just know that kissing Raphael feels better than anything else I have ever done.”

Clary smiled in that understanding way of hers that made her the greatest best friend he’d could have found. “Of course not. But, I’m still allowed to be a little thrown by this right? I didn’t think Raphael liked anyone, especially anyone connected to the Shadowhunters, and no offense, but especially not you.”

“Oh none taken,” Simon's said, grabbing a French fry from her plate and throwing it at her, “What can I say, I’m like an adorable fungus. I grow on you.”

Her bright laughter brought the conversation to an end and they moved on to other topics, like Alec and Magnus’ latest drama, both aware that something between them had relaxed.

 

Simon might have been more than a little tense if he knew that his new relationship had opened the door for Izzy and Lily to become friends. 

“You get this one to Raphael and we’ll handle Simon.”

Izzy shared a smirk with Lily while Clary finished wrapped the two articles of clothing.

“Why do we think this is a good idea again?” The redhead put the last piece of tape in place and turned a questioning look to her fellow Shadowhunter. 

Lily scoffed. “Because Raphael seems to be under the impression that we hate the idea of him and the fledgling together and it would help everyone if we all showed support and it’s going to be funny, so that’s a bonus.” 

“I want a picture,” Izzy said and the vampire laughed with unrestrained glee. 

“I have it covered Shadowhunter, don’t worry.”

Clary shook her head. “If this hurts Simon, we are going to be in so much trouble.”

Lily sobered at her words. “The clan loves Simon, we just haven’t been expressing it in the the best way. We’re doing this for our favorite fledgling as much as our beloved leader.”

“Is he really that amazing?” Izzy asked, a look of skepticism gracing her lovely features. 

Taking a seat, Lily ran a hand through her blue hair and motioned the two girls closer. “I can’t tell you much because sharing state secrets with a couple of Shadowhunters could get me staked. What I can say is that Camille was a bitch and a half and liked to have the whole Clave under her thumb while she broke every rule. Raphael was the one to take the brunt of her crazy so that the rest of us wouldn’t suffer as much. We owe him and Simon a great deal for their parts in overthrowing that useless excuse for an immortal. I know he comes off heartless and cold to you but, you are not vampires. You are our greatest threat in fact.”

“I guess I can understand that,” Clary looked at Izzy. “One wrong move in front of the wrong Shadowhunter and poof, another one bites the dust.”

“Lily winced.” Exactly. Raphael doesn’t want any more of us sacrificed. We lost enough with Camille’s stupid plan to kidnap Simon.”

Izzy dropped an arm around the vampire, much to Lily’s amusement. “We can’t apologize for trying to rescue Simon. It was the right thing to do. Just like pranking Raphael now is the right thing to do.”

Laughter filled the room, a little slice of pain carved away from the growing friendship.

 

With the trap set and several vampires holding camera’s at the best vantage points, it was a wonder Raphael didn’t feel anything suspicious as he tugged his new shirt down and headed out of his bedroom. Lily’s gift seemed strange but she’d insisted that he wear it and since it looked like she would cry if he refused, he’d given in to her request. Making his way to the training room, he felt the presence of his clan surrounding him but when he rounded the corner, all he saw was SImon facing the wall. 

“Simon, are you alright  _ querido?” _

The younger vampire turned and Raphael stared in confusion at Simon’s grinning face. Lowering his eyes, he took in the shirt Simon wore, words written in a child like script \IF LOST, PLEASE RETURN TO RAPHAEL./

He looked down at his own shirt, and the words \I’M RAPHAEL/ splashed across his chest. 

“Lily!”

Simon threw his arm around Raphael and turned them to face the cameras as Lily shouted. “Smile!”

The flashes went off all at once but Lily knew every picture would show an extremely pissed off clan leader. She giggled at the overly excited Simon pressing a kiss into the older vampire’s temple while Raphael crossed his arms.

Stan pushed himself off the wall and went to face their leader’s wrath. Putting his arm around Simon, Stan gave Raphael’s arm a light punch.

“You’ve been walking around, just waiting for one of us to make a move against Simon, as if we would be angry that you’d finally found a worthy mate.”

Simon choked at the word  **mate** but kept his mouth shut.

Stan continued. “I won’t say that the Shadowhunter’s plan didn’t appeal to Lily’s impish nature but we all agreed you needed to lighten up and realize we aren’t going to go against our leader. You rid us of Camille, the fledgling helped, and if you hadn’t noticed, he’s brought a bit of light into our family.”

Raphael let the normally silent man finish his speech and then looked around at the faces of his family and sighed. “All of you feel this way?”

A wave of respect and tender affection filled his senses and Simon slipped his arms around Raphael, feeling the same wave engulf him as well and letting his tears drip down. Turning in Simon’s arms, Raphael pressed his lips against Simon’s and drew the younger vampire into a passionate kiss. All thought left Simon’s head as Raphael brought a hand up to his hair and pulled him closer. Lily let out a whoop and the other vampires yelled or whistled in approval. 

“So, I'm really your boyfriend now right?” Simon asked when Raphael released him.

“Shut up  _ cariño _ .”

“I’m wearing this shirt everywhere.”

“You’re so annoying _.” _

Simon brought his hand up to Raphael’s cheek. “I love you too.”

Raphael’s soft smile had nothing on the full on grin covering his face at Simon’s words and it didn’t matter that he hadn’t said it back. He would as soon as he could stop kissing his irritating boyfriend.

  
  


Translations (to the best of my ability)

_ Tu eres demasiado estúpido para vivir =  _ You are too stupid to live _. _

_ “ _ _ Bebé, perdido otra vez _ ?” = Lost again baby?

_ mueve el culo =  _ Move your ass.

_ Eres un idiota emotivo =  _ You emotional idiot.

_ Distrayendo y tonto = distracting and silly _

_ Querido =  _ darling

_ Cariño =  _ sweetheart

  
  
  



End file.
